Manipulators



March 3, 1970 L. sciuUssLsn ET AL v 3,

'. MANIIULATORS Filed April 12, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fl G. I I mmvrons I A Luuwm Smussua,

WERNER FOLTA BYM,

March 3,1970 'SCHUSSLER ETAL 3,498,490

, MAN'IPULA'I'ORS Filed April 12, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet Q t I I INVENTORS lulu/g fa Milli! Warner Fo/ta ATTORNEY United States Patent US. Cl. 214-652 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A travelling or stationary manipulator, having a tongsholder, with tongs, adjustable both in height and laterally, and also rotatable, for gripping and handling billets during forging, straightening and other deformation, the tongs-holder being slidably mounted upon two carrying members mounted parallel to one another in the lower part of a machine frame, and the carrying members being connected by ball-and-socket joints with the lower ends of four tie rods, the upper ends of which are connected by ball-and-socket joints with the lower arms of four bell-crank levers mounted fast upon two transverse carrying shafts, journalled in the machine frame, parallel to the two carrying members. Means such as pistons and cylinders may be provided for displacing the tongs-holder along the two carrying members either jointly or separately.

This invention relates to a travelling or stationary manipulator, with the tongs of which billets for forging, straightening or any other deformation can be gripped under presses, hammers or the like. These tongs, with a gripping appliance, must be capable of executing movements in a vertical, horizontal or axial direction, and must also be rotatable about their longitudinal axis.

In a known manipulator, the tongs-holder of the tongs is supported, by four tension rods, journalled in balland-socket joints, suspended from the ends of bell-crank levers, each two bell-crank levers being secured upon one of two transverse shafts, rotatably supported in the machine frame or truck frame and extending transversely to the axis of the machine.

It is frequently necessary to displace the workpiece, and with it the tongs and the tongs-holder, laterally, that is to say, parallel to the axis of the manipulator, or even, in the horizontal plane, to establish a twisted position of the tongs relatively to the manipulator axis.

For the lateral displacement of the tongs-holder, various solutions have become known. In one case, on or in the upper transverse shafts carrying the bell-crank levers, displacement drives are provided, for instance hydraulic cylinders with pistons, for the transverse displacement of the tongs-holder, including the bell-crank levers and the suspension, in the machine frame or trolley frame. In this case a mass consisting of transverse shafts, bell-crank levers, tie rods and tongs-holders is displaced. The disadvantages of the displacement of such large masses led to a known further reduction of these masses by the provision, along with stationary upper transverse shafts, and bell-crank levers secured upon the latter, in the arms of the bell-crank levers, of special displacement shafts, so arranged, parallel to the transverse shafts, as to be hydraulically displaceable. These displacement shafts, with the tie rods suspended from them, and with the tongs-holders and gripping tongs, can then be moved laterally to the axis of the machine.

The power required for the displacement of these masses is however still comparatively large. In addition, owing to the ball-and-socket joints employed in the tie rods, lateral swinging may occur during the displacement.

The object of the present invention is therefore to diminish the weight of the masses to be displaced, and to provide for the lateral fixing of the tie rods.

The invention therefore proceeds from a travelling or stationary manipulator with rotatable and vertically and laterally displaceable tongs, with a tongs-holder, wherein, on two carrying shafts rotatably journalled in the upper region of the machine frame transversely to the axis of the machine, two bell-crank levers are secured to each shaft, and on the lower arms of these levers, by way of four tie rods hanging with ball-and-socket joints located both at their upper and at their lower ends, two carrying members for the tongs-holder are arranged, which are displaceable parallel to the upper carrying shafts.

According to the invention, the tongs-holder is so arranged upon the lower carrying members as to be displaceable in the axial direction of these members, its front and rear carrying member bearings being so provided as to be displaceable either jointly or separately. Furthermore, the carrying members are provided at their ends with supports bearing against the machine frame. The advantageous result is thereby obtained that now only the tongs-carrier and the gripping tongs, still have to be moved as a mass. The supports provided for the carrying members bearing against the cheeks of the machine frame permit the lateral displacement of the masses without swinging, and serve in particular for the centering of a billet or the like during deformation. Just in consequence of possible laterally occurring shocks or forces, the supports for the lower carrying members prove particularly advantageous. This is applicable to the same extent with a horizontally twisted position of the tongsholder relative to the axis of the manipulator.

In a further development of the invention, the lower carrying members are constructed as carrying shafts, upon which the tongs-carrier is slidingly displaceable. The supports of the lower carrying members are advantageously constructed as resilient buffers. It is thereby made possible, without additional stressing of the tongs or the tongs-holder, to take up resiliently the lateral forces occurring during deformation.

For the transverse displacement of the tongs-holder, whether parallel or at an angle to the axis of the machine, pistons and cylinders actuated by fluid pressure in a manner known in itself are provided, wherein the pistons are arranged on the tongs-holder bearings and the cylinders on the lower carrying shafts. By energising the front and rear pistons in the same sense, the displacement of the tongs-holder is effected parallel to the axis of the machine; whereas by energising either the front or the rear piston, or !by energising them in opposite directions,

a skew position of the tongs-holder in relation to the axis of the machine is obtained.

One embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is an end view, partly in section, of the tongs-holder suspended in a machine frame; and

FIGURE 2 is a side view in section on the line II-1I in FIGURE 1.

In bearings 1 are rotatably mounted two transverse shafts 2, parallel to the plane of the drawing. Upon these two shafts four bell-crank levers 3 are secured by means of keys or wedges. From the lower arms 4 of the four bellcrank levers 3 are suspended in pairs tie rods 5, which at their lower ends accommodate two carrying shafts 6. The upper and lower bearings of the tie rods 5 are provided in a known manner with ball-and-socket joints 13. In the middle of the carrying shafts 6 are secured cylinders 7, the pistons 8 of which are secured to bearings 12 by which the tongs-carrier 9 is slidable upon the carrying shafts 6. By supplying pressure fluid simultaneously to the cylinder spaces 8a to the left of the pistons 8 of the front and rear cylinders 7, a parallel displacement of the tongs-carrier 9 is effected towards one side, and by supplying pressure fluid to the cylinder spaces 81) on the other side of the pistons, a parallel displacement is effected towards the other side. By supplying pressure fluid to the side 8a of the front cylinder and to the side 8b of the rear cylinder, or conversely, the tongs-holder 9 and the carrying axles 6 are turned through a few degrees about the vertical axis of the machine. This obliquity is rendered possible by the use of the ball-and-socket joints, and is quite sufiicient for practical purposes.

Spring buffers 10 arranged at the ends of the carrying shafts 6 are adjustable, so that the travel stroke of the springs, the spring tension, and the clearance between the ends of the buffers 10 and the side cheeks 11 of the machine frame can be determined.

We claim:

1. A manipulator for handling. billets during deformation, comprising: a machine frame, two carrying shafts parallel to one another journalled in the upper part of the machine frame, two bell-crank levers mounted fast on each of the said carrying shafts, each of the four bell-crank levers including a downwardly extending arm, four tie rods, each suspended from the downwardly extending arm of one of the bell-crank levers, ball-andsocket joints interposed between the bell-crank levers and the tie rods, two carrying members extending parallel to the said carrying shafts and bearing at their ends against the lower part of the machine frame, ball-andsocket joints interposed between these carrying members and the tie rods, the tongs-holder being so mounted upon the two carrying members as to be slidable in their axial direction, and means for displacing the tongs-holder along the two carrying members either in the same direction or in opposite directions.

2. A manipulator as claimed in claim 1, the two carrying members at the lower ends of the tie rods being shafts.

3. A manipulator as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ends of the carrying shafts are in the form of resilient buffers.

4. A manipulator as claimed in claim 1, the means for displacing the tongs-holder along the two carrying members being fluid-operated piston-and-cylinder units.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 4/1944 Brosius 214-652 5/1957 Westling 214147 US. Cl. X.R. 214-147 

